Iturbide, Agustín de

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Iturbide, Agustín de

(ägo͞ostēn` dā ēto͞orbē`thā), 1783–1824, Mexican revolutionist, emperor of Mexico (1822–23). An officer in the royalist army, he was sympathetic to independence but took no part in the separatist movement led by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, and in fact helped to suppress the peasant revolt. His forces were instrumental in checking Morelos y PavónMorelos y Pavón, José María, 1765–1815, Mexican leader in the revolution against Spain, a national hero. He was, like Hidalgo y Costilla, a liberal priest......Click the link for more information.. In 1820 he was commissioned by Viceroy ApodacaApodaca, Juan Ruiz de, 1754–1835, Spanish viceroy and military leader. He was sent to London by the Central Junta of Seville to gain English support against Napoleon......Click the link for more information. to lead royalist troops against Vicente GuerreroGuerrero, Vicente, 1782–1831, Mexican revolutionist and president (Apr.–Dec., 1829). He fought under the command of Morelos y Pavón, spreading the revolution in the south. Guerrero won victory after victory......Click the link for more information.. Iturbide undertook the command with the intention of overthrowing the viceroyalty and establishing Mexican independence. After Guerrero had inflicted minor defeats on his troops, Iturbide opened negotiations with the insurgent leader, and the result was the Plan of IgualaIgualaor Iguala de la Independencia, city (1990 pop. 83,412), Guerrero state, S Mexico, on the Cocula River. It is the communications, distribution, and processing center of the surrounding mining and agricultural region. There are frequent earthquakes......Click the link for more information. (1821). Iturbide's army swept the country. The new viceroy, O'DonojúO'Donojú, Juan, d. 1821, Spanish colonial administrator. He distinguished himself in the army and became captain general of Andalusia. Sent out (1821) as captain general and acting viceroy of New Spain, he found all Mexico, except a few towns, in the control of the.....Click the link for more information., capitulated to their demands in the Treaty of CórdobaCórdoba, city (1990 pop. 130,695), Veracruz state, E central Mexico. It is the commercial and processing center of a fertile coffee, sugarcane, and tropical fruit region. Sugar milling is the chief industry. The city is also a popular tourist spot......Click the link for more information. (1821). The independence of Mexico was assured, but without the social reforms advocated by Hidalgo; instead of a new liberal state, Iturbide had ushered in a new conservative one. He headed a provisional government which in time became dictatorial. When no Bourbon prince could be found to accept the crown of Mexico and Spain repudiated the Treaty of Córdoba, his soldiers proclaimed him emperor as Agustín I. Congress, hostile but intimidated, ratified the proclamation (1822). It was not long before a revolution was in the field, with Santa AnnaSanta Anna, Antonio López de, 1794–1876, Mexican general and politician. He fought in the royalist army, but later joined Iturbide in the struggle that won independence for Mexico (1821). Santa Anna then entered upon a long and tortuous political career......Click the link for more information. and Guadalupe VictoriaGuadalupe Victoria, 1786?–1843, Mexican general, first president of Mexico (1824–29), whose original name was Manuel Félix Fernández. He joined (1811) the revolution proclaimed by Hidalgo y Costilla, and even after the defeat and death of Morelos y.....Click the link for more information. as its principal leaders. In 1823, Iturbide was forced to abdicate and go into exile in Europe. Congress decreed him a traitor and an outlaw, forbidding his reentry into Mexico. Iturbide, ignorant of the decree, sailed back to Mexico in 1824. He was captured, tried by the Congress of Tamaulipas, and shot. Iturbide has been regarded by conservatives as the champion of Mexican independence, rather than Hidalgo or Morelos y Pavón. In 1838 a conservative government placed his body in the Cathedral of Mexico.

Bibliography

See biography by W. S. Robertson (1968).

Itúrbide, Agustín De

Born Sept. 27, 1783, in Valladolid, now Morelia; died July 19, 1824, in Padilla. Mexican statesman and military figure. Son of a Spanish nobleman.

Itúrbide joined the Spanish Army in 1798 and was promoted to the rank of colonel. He participated in the suppression of the national liberation movement that broke out in Mexico in 1810 and conducted cruel reprisals against Mexican patriots. During the Spanish revolution of 1820–23, Iturbide, reflecting the interests of Mexican landowners, clergy, and military, headed a military action for separation from Spain. On May 19, 1822, Iturbide proclaimed himself emperor under the name Agustin I and established a terrorist regime. The complete financial bankruptcy of the Iturbide government and the siding of the army with the republicans led to the fall of the Itúrbide empire, and in March 1823, Itúrbide abdicated and fled to Europe. In 1824 he returned illegally to Mexico and was captured and shot.

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